Oil well tool



YMay 26, 1942. J. J. SANTIAGO OIL WELL T001J Filed Oct- 5, 19:57

r Inventor. Jame jan-Zia o'.

Z3 W l 4 .I/...Hlellmr h. u mraw n l atented ci el, anni@ I .Eames il. Santiago, Los elles, Ela., assigner to .lio Grant, Los geles, (Galli.

application @cacher 5, its?, Seniat No. 167,389

s @i im. 255=-=76i This invention has to do generally with im.

provements in oil well tools having parts actuated by uid pressure, for example mud laden. circulating iluid pressure, and in which the parts are subjected to excessive and destructive wear because of the abrading action of the operating uid ilowing at substantial or high velocities. The invention may be vtypically illustrated and described with reference to wall Scrapers of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,072,859, granted March 9, i937, to John Grant on Wall scraper; and in its more specific aspects, the invention may be regarded as an irnprovement upon the wall scraper comprising the subject matter of said patent.

Asindicated, in oil tools having fluid pressure vactuated parts against which the .operating fluid impinges, Vthe solid particles in the fluid may severely abrade the surfaces oi the parts, and irequently wear them to a degree oi virtual destruction withln short periods of time, especially where the fluid velocities are high. This isv particularly true in tools, vfor example of the at the same time the destructive velocity effect' of the fluid stream dissipated before the stream strikes lthe surfaces subject to abrading wear.

As a typical and illustrative embodiment of the invention, I show one form in which the iiuid pressure actuated part requiring protection against abrading action of the circulating uid..

comprises a plunger rod extending longitudinally within the bore of the tool through which a flow of circulating fluid is maintained around the outside vof the rod.- The latter is made responsive to circulating uid pressure by applying to the rod a head having openings that pass the i'luid, but which are restricted sumciently to maintain a pressure differential required to move the rods and the rod actuated parts. The usual diiilculty encountered is that the high velocity circulating fluid streams discharged throughtheopenings in the head, tend to severely abrade the bore wall or surface of the rod, or both, thus requiring frequent replacements in addition to expense and inconvenience. In accordance with the invention, I provide an improved form of hollow head extending beyond the upper end of the rod, and having uid passing openings or slots so arranged that the fluid streams passing vtherethrough are caused to imple together, away f .si

c: vergently the wall, and preferably at substantially the amai center ci se beyond the end of the rod. In this manner the velocity effects oi the streams are dissipated by turbulent convergence within the head, so that the velocityof the uid thence flowing downwardly outside and in contact with the surface of the rod is sufficiently reduced that no serious abrading action can occur.

The invention will be more fully understood land explained to better advantage by proceeding with a description of a typical form shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal central section sh`owing a wall scraper with the cutters in collapsed condition;

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the cutters'in expanded positions;

Figs. 3 and 4 are cross sections on lines 3 3. andl-J, respectively, of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a. sectional view looking upward on line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

The illustrated tool comprises a tubular body it into the box end lila of which is threaded the pin ila of the tool joint il, the latter in turn being connected to the drill string on its lower end.' The body carries a suitablecutting tool or bit i3 which is shown to be formed integrally with the body, although the particular manner of attaching the bit to the body may be a matter of preference. Cutters i5 are mounted within a transverse slot I5 in the body, the cutters consisting of blades lying along side each other, face to face, in the body slot and movable pivotally on the transverse pivot pin i5 between the collapsed position oi Fig. 1 land the expanded posi-` tion shown in Fig. 2. The ends Illa and the lower edges Ib of the blades, as viewed in open position, .are beveled to provide. sharp cutting edges, the bevels on the two blades being reversed, as illustrated, so that the bevels trail the cutting edges as the tool rotates. In fully expanded position, the cutters swing into engagement with body shoulders I1 at the upper end of slot i5, the

shoulders serving as stops to limit the cutter swing and also to take the upward thrust transmitted through the cutter during operation; In

their collapsed position, see Fig. l, the cutters are swung into engagement with stop pins IB, see Fig. 4, having beveled ends Ma corresponding in angularity to the bevel at the cutter edges Mb, so that the cutters bear atly against the pins.

The cutters are actuated in their expansive movement from the position of Fig. 1 to that oi Fig. 2, by duid pressure applied to a plunger, generally indicated at I 9, within bore of the body. The portion 20a` of the bore within the upper interior Vof the body is of comparatively large diameter and tapers at 20h belowv shoulder 2| to a relatively small diameter bore 20c. Angular grooves 22 are formed in the body at the lower endof bore 20c to'provide vdownwardly aring communications between the bore and the cutter containing slot I6. 'Circulating fluid is discharged into and through the body boresby way of the tool joint bore IIb andthe tubular drill string I2.

The cutter actuating plunger I9 comprisesy a hollow head 22 vhaving an upwardly tapered portion 22a carrying an eye 2l to receive a tool for removing the plunger from the body in disas-V sembling the tool after pin I l has been with.-

drawn to disconnect the cutters. The bottom of the hollow plunger head 22 is connected at 25, by screw-threads or other suitable means, with vthe upper end of the rod 26. The lower end of rod 22 is connected at 21 with a pair of links 22 which, in turn, are pivotally attached at .22 to one each of the cutters I4, the pivots 22 being oil'set suiiiciently from the axial center of the body that downward movement of the links causes their respective cutters to swing oppositely as shown in Fig. 2. 'I'he connection at 21 between the plunger rod 22 and links 22 comprises a nut 3l threaded on the lower end of the rod and having a lower bifurcated is inserted a pivot pin 2l ing through the links. Nut 20 may be substantially cyllndric in shape (see Fig. 3), having a'substantially sliding fit within bore 20c, and is provided with vertically extending channels or recesses 22 through which circulating fluid is discharged from bore `20e downwardly through grooves 22 into the upper end ol slot I l. A

In this manner, the circulatingiiuid is discharged substantially straight downward into the cutter slot so as to wash the cutters free of accumulated mud lor' sand in the vicinity of their pivotal mounting, and also to create an outward circulation through and beyond the sides of the slot. The body may also be provided with 4angularly inclined bores 25 pointing toward the outer extremities of the cutters I4 in expanded positions. Botes thus serve to direct streams of circulating fluid from tapered portion 2lb of the body bore outwardly against and in the immediate vicinity of the scraper ends Ila, of the cutter blades, so as to effectively and continuously wash away the cuttings as they are formed.

With` reference to bores 25, it should be mentioned thatthey may or may lnot be provided, since insome situations ample circulation may occur through passage 20a. Where the bores are prol vided, however they preferably will be somewhat restricted, as shown so that the portion of circulating uid discharged through passage 22a will be ample to thoroughly wash abrading particles from the links or cutters.l Preferably I provide a washer l0, or the equivalent, about pin I2 between the cutters I4, and also space the links by thickening their inner faces at 22a at the pin 2l to correspond substantially with the thickness of washer l2, for the purpose 'of preventing the vlinks from becoming damaged as a result of binding or wedging together in their pivotal movement.. A

The plunger I9 is pressed downwardly by the circulating duid pressure to swing the-cutters from collapsed to expanded positions, and the 15 1. A well tool comprising a tubular body, a

, cutters are returned tocollapsed condition when the fluid pressureis relieved, by a coil spring 22 .26. A `restricted flow of circulating iiuid through.

the plunger lhead is maintained through a plurality of circularly arranged, vertically extending slots 21, for example four in number, the lower ends of which terminate at points spaced from the wall of the bodybore 20a. ,The plunger head is proportioned so as to have a diameter suiiil' ciently large that the total iluid pressure acting rtion 22a into which downwardly against it will operate the cutters I4 without the necessity for particularly high iluid pressures per unit area, and also to enable the combined areas of slots 20 to be sumciently large to avoid excessively high fluid velocities within the slots, and resultant abrasive wear. By vgiving the head a tapered or conical shape, I am able to provide both the desired effective plunger area and large total slot area. l

Openings 22 are formed in the lower portion yzzz of the head zo pass fluid from chamber u downwardly into passage l0 between rod 2l and the bore wall. As shown in Fig. 5, openings 22 may, but not necessarily, ,directly underlie the slots 21, and are made comparatively large so as to offer little restriction to the iluid iiow out of the head'. The head 22 carries an annular packing ring II between'slots 21 and openings 2l, the packing being in engagement with thebore wall and preferably providing a substantially iiuidtight nt.

'I'he circulating uid entering chamber 2l within-the hollow head through the elongated slots 31 is directed in downwardly and inwardly 'flowing streams that impinge against one another and come to a point of convergence at substantially the axial center of the body bore within the chamber. Preferably, the head 'will be sumciently elongated, or the slots so arranged, that this point of impingement will be located at a point beyond the upper endof the rod 2l, or above the lower end of the head. Upon converging within chamber 2l, as indicated by the arrows, the circulating tluidistreams mutually act to dissipate the increased velocity of the circulating fluid stream resulting from its passage through the slots. The result is a turbulent condition of flow within chamber 2l, and a reduction in the iiuid velocity to an extent that the fluid stream will not severely abrade any of the parts. And ln addition, rod wear is further avoided by reason of the fact that the rod is not extended into the head, and -therefore no high velocity or inwardly directed parts of the fluid stream strike the sides of the' rod. As a result, the ,life of the plunger parts under surface conditions is greatly prolonged, to obvious advantage in obviating the necessity for frequent replacements or removal of the .tool from the well for repair.

As I have mentioned, the drawings are to be j regarded merely as illustrative of the invention in one of its typical and preferred forms. and

varlouschanges and modifications may be made lwithout departure from the intended spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

I claim: A

cutter Ymounted in the body, a vertically extending cutter actuating plunger within the body bore` and operable by iluid pressure, said plunger comprising a hollow head having an upper upwardly tapering portion and a rod operativelyassociated with the lower end of said head, there being a plurality of fluid passing slots in said tapered portion of the head arranged to direct streams of operating iluid to a point of convergence within the head above the upper end of the rod, the

fluid thence passing downwardly through openings in the lower portion of the head into aportion of the head arranged to direct streams of operating fiuid'to a point of convergence within the head above the upper end of the rod, the huid thence passing downwardly through openings in the lower portion of the head` into a space between said rod and the wall of said bore,

and annular packing carried by said head between said slots and openings and engaging the bore wall.

3. In a hydraulically actuated well tool, a body having a vertical plunger receiving bore adapted to be connected at its upper end to fluid circulating means, a cutter movably mounted on the A y body, a cutter actuating plungerin the bore, said plunger comprising an upper hollow head and a member connecting with the lower end of the head and extending down through the bore and operatively associated with the Ycutter and being of a cross sectional size substantially less than the bore cross-section, the upper wall-0f the hollow head having a plurality o! restricted ports which converge toward each other to cause uid streams passing therethrough to mutually impinge, the hollow interior of the yhead being unobstructed and of large cross-sectional area compared with the area of said restricted ports, relatively large ports in the head wall leading from its interior to deliver Huidv therefrom into the space in said body bore below the head around the connecting member, and means for discharging fluid from said bore space.

JAMES J. SANTIAGO. 

